


The Perfect Present

by stjarna



Series: Engineering vs Biochem - 2017 (Team Engineering) [13]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Baby, Birthdays, Domestic Bliss, Engineering VS Biochem, F/M, Fluffy, Gen, Team Engineering, The Fitz Wish List, short and fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 19:35:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11881353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: Written for The Fitz Wish List Event organized by Team Engineering to celebrate Fitz's 30th Birthday with a month of birthday-wish-inspired fan art.Prompt: Fitz's wish is to start a family with Jemma.





	The Perfect Present

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you to @popsicle86 for the beta.
> 
> Banner by me.

 

Fitz never cared much for his birthday. Maybe it was because he had few friends to celebrate with. Very few, in fact. The fewest.

His birthdays weren’t bad. Far from it. He especially liked the cake. Very much so. It was good cake. His favorite. Every time.

But then again, his mum baked that cake almost every other week. _Because_ it was his favorite and because his mum seemed to have a hard time saying no to Fitz’s request to make one to see if his latest improvements to the oven had decreased the cooking time. Although his mum swore it was his puppy dog eyes that she couldn’t resist. He didn’t use the power of his puppy eyes very often on her, because after everything they had been through with his Dad he knew she needed his support as much as Fitz needed hers, but when it came to cake, those puppy eyes (and Fitz’s oven experiments) really brought no harm and a bit more light and sugar into their lives.

So, yeah, Fitz liked the cake his mum baked on his birthdays, but the only difference to all those other times she made the exact same cake was a bit of decoration and a candle on top. And what was with candles on birthday cakes anyway? (once the wax started dripping it ruined a piece of perfectly fine cake).

Of course there were also birthday presents. Well, one present usually. His mum couldn’t afford much, so it was usually just one. She always put a lot of thought into what she got him though. But even though she meant so well, and it came from the heart, and she always gave it to him with a big smile that suggested that she was more excited about him opening it then he was, Fitz always felt a tad guilty that his mum felt like she had to spend money because society dictated that this one day of the year was somehow something special just because he’d been born. (Especially as he often still heard his Dad’s voice ringing in his ears about how very not special he was.)

So. Yeah. Fitz never cared much for his birthday.

It wasn’t that he hated it. Not at all. But he didn’t really like it either.

It was a perfectly fine day, and he liked spending it with the people who seemed to care about him (first mainly his Mum, then later Jemma, then later his colleagues at S.H.I.E.L.D.). He didn’t need the fuss. He didn’t need the presents. He didn’t need the… okay, yes, he wanted the cake, but all-in-all, Fitz would have been perfectly happy not celebrating his birthday, not receiving presents, and it would have been just like any other day.

So no, Fitz never cared much for his birthday.

Until their baby decided to arrive seven days early. On Fitz’s birthday.

Fitz held this tiny, squirming, pink human being in his arms while tears streamed down his face, marveling over the fact that somehow the combination of his and Jemma’s DNA had created this little living, breathing, kicking miracle…

And suddenly, the very day that Fitz had thought shouldn’t be considered special just because it was the day his mother had given birth to him, became the most important day of Fitz’s life, because it was the day that Jemma had given birth to their child.

Suddenly Fitz loved his birthday, not because it was his, but because it was theirs.

Not because it was a day to celebrate himself, but because that day became the perfect opportunity to celebrate their child (and shower their baby with love and presents and cake of course).

Jemma teased him when he started planning the first birthday party, down to the tiniest little perfect detail.

She teased him when he bought half the toy shop.

She teased him when he invited everyone they knew.

And yet, her eyes always sparkled with love and adoration at Fitz’s newfound love for birthdays, knowing how much his love for his child had changed him forever (and in the best possible way).

And when Fitz’s Mum came all the way from Scotland for their baby’s first birthday party, with two simple gifts—one for Fitz and one for her grandchild—two gifts that she’d clearly thought long and hard about, Fitz hugged her tighter than he maybe ever had before, because now that he was a parent himself, he finally understood why his Mum had always made such a fuss about him and his birthday.


End file.
